Château de la Tour Clos-Vougeot Vieilles Vignes 1985-2016
Verticals & Retrospectives, featured, France: Burgundy
, Jun 2019
The largest single owner of land in Clos de Vougeot is making some of its best wines today. Director François Labet’s special bottling from vines planted in 1910 has been an essence of this legendary grand cru in recent years.
Cellar Favorite: 2010 Domaine Armand Rousseau Bourgogne Blanc
cellar favorite, Cellar Favorites, France: Burgundy
, Jan 2019
I am at Domaine Rousseau and ask Cyrielle Rousseau about the mysterious Bourgogne Blanc. She confirms that her family produced it for a number of years from a parcel in Gevrey-Chambertin, solely for personal consumption or to give to friends and associates. They no longer make it.
2017 Burgundy: A Modern Classic
featured, France: Burgundy
, Jan 2019
Winemakers’ prayers were answered when the 2017 Burgundy growing season bestowed them with normal yields, refilling cellars that were getting accustomed to being empty. But how good are the reds? Should you form an orderly queue to secure your allocation and if so, what growers or appellations represent the best potential value?
2019 Burgundy Verticals
France: Burgundy
, Jan 2019
All of the producers I visited in December presented their wines in the same way: from youngest to oldest, with the bottles uncorked shortly before the tasting and not decanted. Beginning with the youngest vintage and working backward has always been my preferred approach to vertical tastings, for the simple reason that this order allows me to understand how wines develop with bottle age.
Blind Vision: 2015 Burgundy Red & White
featured, France: Burgundy
, Nov 2018
Bordeaux is a dog. A dog will always fetch the stick or come to heel. Dogs are predictable. But a cat? You never know what a cat might be up to at any given moment—licking its paws or catching mice. Cats are as unpredictable as opening a bottle of Burgundy. You never know what to expect until you pull the cork. Burgundy is a cat….
Cellar Favorite: 1942 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Richebourg “Vigne Originelle Française”
cellar favorite, France: Burgundy
, Nov 2018
The magical properties of the time-buckling 1942 Richebourg Vigne Originelle Française Non Reconstitutée defy the laws of mature Pinot Noir. Over the course of 90 minutes, the wine gains substance from the ether.
Cellar Favorite: 2010 Domaine François Raveneau Chablis Blanchot Grand Cru
cellar favorite, Cellar Favorites, France: Burgundy
, Nov 2018
The 2010 Valmur and Clos were magnificent at a recent charity dinner. A few days later I opened the Blanchot for a dear friend who lamented the scarcity and pricing that has, sadly, become the norm for Raveneau. Two thousand ten is a vintage I tasted chez Raveneau from barrel and bottle, but I hadn’t tasted any wines from the vintage since then.
Eternal Leroy: 1937-2010
Verticals & Retrospectives, featured, France: Burgundy
, Oct 2018
I still remember the first time I visited Domaine Leroy. It was a much earlier time in my tasting and writing career. As I walked into the understated winery in Vosne-Romanée I noticed the walls covered with photographs of what looked like incredible tastings. Gently softened by the passage of time, those photos bore testament to the extraordinary legacy built by Lalou Bize-Leroy and her late husband, Marcel Bize, over the six decades they spent together. My mind wandered as I imagined what it might be like to attend one of those events. Little did I know that in the coming years I would have the opportunity to participate in several historic tastings at both Domaine Leroy and Domaine d’Auvenay, Lalou Bize-Leroy’s home estate in the hills outside Meursault.
Picture This: Domaine Henri Gouges 1945 – 2016
Verticals & Retrospectives, featured, France: Burgundy
, Oct 2018
Photographs so often convey history better than words. They can stimulate our imagination and trigger emotions. A photograph presents minimal information, its temporal limitation governed by the click of the lens that ensnares a moment in time. Our minds are left to colour in what comes before and after. This retrospective traces the history of Domaine Henri Gouges through eight decades and more than fifty wines.
2016 White Burgundy: Excellent, But Complicated
featured, France: Burgundy
, Sep 2018
Two thousand sixteen is a potentially classic white Burgundy vintage marked by a devastating frost event that sharply reduced overall production and dramatically complicated the lives of growers. Now long-time Burgundy collectors must navigate their own set of challenges to find the best bottles.